A MAN filmed on hidden cameras as he dumped sofas, tyres and wood at a notorious fly-tipping spot in the Midlands has successfully appealed against his suspended prison sentence.

A MAN filmed on hidden cameras as he dumped sofas, tyres and wood at a notorious fly-tipping spot in the Midlands has successfully appealed against his suspended prison sentence.

Father-of-three Ronald Gearing was twice caught on camera as he unloaded junk from a van at the tipping hotspot in Murdoch Road, Bilston.

Gearing (33) of Laurel Road, Tipton, was given a six-month suspended sentence by Wolverhampton Magistrates on two charges of depositing waste.

He was also given a six-month curfew order between the hours of 8pm and 6am but that too was quashed by Judge Sybil Thomas at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

But she ruled a six-month driving disqualification should still stand, along with an order that Gearing pay costs and compensation totalling #1,800.

The court was told CCTV cameras were installed at the spot by Wolverhampton Council after complaints from nearby residents it had become a regular dumping ground.

Gearing turned up at the cul-de-sac and, on the first occasion, he dumped sofas, doors and a quantity of wood. He returned to the spot two days later when he was filmed dumping more sofas, laminate flooring and 40 tyres.

When questioned later Gearing maintained the property had all been dumped in the garden of his home by fly-tippers and he felt it was causing a fire hazard.

The Judge told Gearing he had been subject to the suspended sentence and curfew for over two months and for that reason the appeal had been upheld.